The Selective Service system of the First World War was based on an attempt to reconcile the military necessity of conscription with American civic values. General Enoch Crowder and others in the War Department, with the disastrous Civil War experience in mind, were determined to produce a system of conscription that would incorporate such values. Because of this concern, a chief feature of Selective Service was a framework of decentralized administration: the local boards. The complete success of the local boards, though, was predicated on their operation in the sort of society that General Crowder and his associates had known, and indeed idealized. This was the homogeneous, inclusive, and participatory group characterized by the strong social bonds of "community." Selective Service was consciously intended to fit into and take advantage of the dynamics of closely-knit local society, of which the small country town was the American model. Beyond that, some viewed it as a means to strengthen the bonds of community and help unify society on both local and national levels. The major part of this study is concerned with Selective Service in a potentially difficult social context: that of racial segregation in one Southern city, Montgomery, Alabama. Society in Montgomery exhibited general Southern characteristics of segregation, but in Montgomery the social distance between black and white was perhaps greater than elsewhere. Relations between the two groups were governed by the basic conservatism of both, a not entirely vicious arrangement. Though officials had worried about full black participation, Selective Service got a strong start in Montgomery at the first registration in 1917. In such a setting, the question arises as to how Selective Service was affected in operation by segregation. In Montgomery the members of the local board were city officials, intelligent, competent, but unremarkable representatives of the white community. In dealing with white registrants, the board, not surprisingly, fulfilled all the expectations of the War Department. Above all the local board was absolutely fair in its judgments. The situation of the blacks was naturally somewhat different. The local board did not know or represent them in any real sense. Local customs (and a segregated army) dictated the maintenance of segregation in most, though not all, aspects of official proceedings. Yet in substantive terms the board was just as fair to the blacks as to the whites. The main disparities between the treatment of black and white was the unavoidable etiquette of segregation symbolized by the use of the word "Boy." The board's actions, though, left little room for complaint. If habits of segregation did not substantially influence the operation of Selective Service, did Selective Service in turn have any effect on segregation? In the case of Montgomery it is clear that conservatism was too strong and the forces of change too weak to produce much change in local society. Segregation was always maintained at public events. The races went their separate ways, the whites largely ignoring black activities. By the end of the war no change had taken place in racial attitudes. The war effort, while unsettling, simply was not a sufficiently pressing situation to compel an alteration in the views of conservative people. Also, things got done quite well under segregation, with the help of black leaders, so that there was no operational need to re-examine local lociety. And finally, there was no pressure from blacks, although in wartime circumstances they were beginning to develop some community organization. Selective Service came, did its work, and departed, leaving segregation in Montgomery as well established as before the war. Selective Service in Montgomery was thus both a success and a failure. It-succeeded in that there was a just administration of conscription, supported by public participation. It failed in that, although both the white and black people of the city participated in a common institution, the barriers of segregation remained untouched by the war experience. Despite the high social goals which some had had for it, Selective Service in Montgomery was only segregation at its best—and nothing more. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

The U.S. Selective Service System currently excludes women from the talent pool based upon the DoD's 1981 ban on women in direct combat. The DoD has removed the exclusion and has implemented a gender-neutral policy standard for assignments. However, there appears to be a misalignment of national security policy as it relates to gender fairness that impacts Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) participants in particular. Using Durkheim's functionalism theory as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine institutional differences in policies regarding justice and gender among ROTC participants who are between 18 and 26 years of age in a Middle Atlantic University. Data were acquired through 10 interviews with ROTC members. These data were inductively coded and then subjected to Moustakas and Van Kaam's thematic analysis procedure. Key results included evidence that current policy is misaligned with gender enfranchisement, effective social change requires inclusion of both genders in registration, and a standards-based approach to equality is important to both men and women. This group of future military leaders wants the repeal of male only registration and the inclusion of female citizens as an expression of full citizenship and increased social equity. Further research using this methodological framework in different geographical regions and among different generations could add depth to the current body of knowledge. The implications for positive social change with new Selective Service registration policy would change the process towards registering all young adult citizens in the event of a national emergency which would be the codification of fairness and value for all citizens in public policy.

The Vietnam War brought many changes to society in that it soon became one of the most controversial wars in United States history. There was a tremendous loss of life as well as a rift in the nation with the rise of anti-war protest. Those drafted for the war primarily came from low-income and ethnic minority communities. While all who served deserve to be recognized, there is one group that has gone largely unrepresented in the history of the war. Mexican American serviceman served and died in large numbers when compared to their population. In addition, they also received high honors for their valor in the battlefield. Yet, the history of the war has been largely focused on the experience of the Anglo and Black soldier. This is due in part to the existing black-white paradigm of race that has existed in United States society, which places all other ethnic minority groups in the margins of major historical events. Biased Selective Service Boards contributed to the already existing race and class discrimination that existed among the elite class in society. This study utilizes interviews, oral histories, autobiographies and anthologies as its main source of information of Mexican American Vietnam War servicemen. Due to the lack of historical material in this area, most information on participation and casualty rates are estimates conducted by professors such as Ralph Guzman, from the University of Santa Cruz. Guzman took the number of Spanish surnamed casualties in the southwestern states to calculate an approximate number of total casualties. The major aim is to highlight the contribution of the Mexican American serviceman in Vietnam and to emphasize the patriotism that existed in the Mexican American community as much as it did in the Black and Anglo communities. By providing information in the area of American identity, race relations, the draft and volunteerism as well as the sacrifice of Mexican American lives at the time of the Vietnam War, this study hopes to initiate the inclusion of Mexican Americans in the general history of the war. Keywords: Mexican American, Chicano/a, Selective Service , draft boards, whiteness, New Standards Men, Project 100,000, Lyndon Johnson, League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC), Medal of Honor, sacrifice, patriotism.

In the United States, rapid military mobilization for the world wars marked a turning point in the national need to manage and evaluate manpower. To orchestrate manpower needs for the military, industry, and those relating to familial obligations, Woodrow Wilson's administration created the Selective Service System during the First World War. In categorizing men, local Selective Service boards utilized rapid physical and psychological diagnostic techniques and applied their assessments to current military branch induction standards to pronounce candidates as militarily fit or unfit. From World War I to World War II, the Selective Service System expanded as a bureaucracy but did not adequately address induction issues surrounding rapidly changing standards, racism, and inconsistent testing procedures. These persistent problems with Selective Service prevented the system from becoming truly consistent, fair, or effective. As a result of Selective Service System, War Department, and military branch standards, military rejection and prematurely military discharge rates increased in World War II. Additionally, though Selective Service did not accurately predict who would or would not serve effectively, rejected and prematurely discharged men faced harsh discrimination on the American home front during World War II.

This thesis examines the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1947 until it ceased to exist under that name with the release of the report of the Millar Inquiry in 1974. This thesis examines three broad areas: the organizational changes that the CMF adopted or had imposed upon it; the political decision-making surrounding the CMF; and a social analysis of the CMF which questions the viability and validity of a number of the CMF???s long held precepts. The thesis will show that the majority of circumstances and decisions surrounding the CMF were beyond its control. For example, the CMF could not change the prevailing military thought of the post-war period which emphasized increasingly the role of smaller, professional, readily-available armies. The first three chapters recount the CMF???s ???heyday??? in which the Army, assisted by National Service after 1950, was based around it and its influence at the highest levels was strongest. The next two chapters chronicle the background to Australia???s adoption of the ???Pentropic??? organization and the repercussions this had on the CMF. Chapters Six and Seven examine the consequences of the introduction of a second compulsory service scheme and the concomitant result which precluded the CMF from operational service in Vietnam. Chapters Eight and Nine deal with the Millar Inquiry, which offered the CMF a new hope, but in some regards, brought forth little beneficial gains for the CMF. The final chapters analyze some of the characteristics unique to the CMF, such as territorial affiliation, high turnover rates amongst the rank and file and the concept of the ???brilliant amateur???. This thesis concludes that, despite the mixed performance of the CMF, there is still a place for the citizen soldier in contemporary warfare, but far more consideration at the highest political and military levels must be given to the peculiar and difficult, but by no means insurmountable, problems citizen soldiering encounters in Australia.

This thesis examines the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) from 1947 until it ceased to exist under that name with the release of the report of the Millar Inquiry in 1974. This thesis examines three broad areas: the organizational changes that the CMF adopted or had imposed upon it; the political decision-making surrounding the CMF; and a social analysis of the CMF which questions the viability and validity of a number of the CMF???s long held precepts. The thesis will show that the majority of circumstances and decisions surrounding the CMF were beyond its control. For example, the CMF could not change the prevailing military thought of the post-war period which emphasized increasingly the role of smaller, professional, readily-available armies. The first three chapters recount the CMF???s ???heyday??? in which the Army, assisted by National Service after 1950, was based around it and its influence at the highest levels was strongest. The next two chapters chronicle the background to Australia???s adoption of the ???Pentropic??? organization and the repercussions this had on the CMF. Chapters Six and Seven examine the consequences of the introduction of a second compulsory service scheme and the concomitant result which precluded the CMF from operational service in Vietnam. Chapters Eight and Nine deal with the Millar Inquiry, which offered the CMF a new hope, but in some regards, brought forth little beneficial gains for the CMF. The final chapters analyze some of the characteristics unique to the CMF, such as territorial affiliation, high turnover rates amongst the rank and file and the concept of the ???brilliant amateur???. This thesis concludes that, despite the mixed performance of the CMF, there is still a place for the citizen soldier in contemporary warfare, but far more consideration at the highest political and military levels must be given to the peculiar and difficult, but by no means insurmountable, problems citizen soldiering encounters in Australia.